Palle Johansen 1947 Cadillac
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Palle Johansen is building a 1947 Cadillac padded top convertible custom.
It all started in 2012 with the question which car would make a really nice and elegant mid to say 1948’s Custom Car. An early traditional custom car that could have been built in 1948.
After a lot of option the 1946-47 Cadillac was found to be the perfect candidate. This was based a lot of the beautiful lines of George Barris his personal 1942 with the ’47 details Cadillac Convertible with the Gaylord padded top.
So the search for a good candidate started. Not easy to find a decently shaped and priced 1946-47 Cadillac.
Palle wanted to have a driver as well since he wanted to be able to drive and enjoy his new custom project like how it was done back in the days. THen the to be customized car was most of the times the only form of transportation. So the car needed to be driven while constructed.
Eventually a suitable maroon 1947 Cadillac Convertible was found in California.Then some digital designs were made to figure out the best shape of the top in combination with the lowering etc.
Since Palle wanted to have his padded top to be as accurately shaped as possible he contacted David Martinez of Martinez Industries. David is known for his period perfect interiors and especailly for his accurate padded tops in the style of the famous Carson, Hall and Gaylord shops.
David was also hired to chop the windshield frame, extend the cat-walk with about three inches to get the top slightly shorter and better in balance. And of course to create the padded top.
In the last photo we can see the stat of the frame work for the padded top. David had created the side window bows and took out a large strip of aluminum to figure out the perfect flow based on the Photoshop Design.
Rik Hoving is shaping the strip to get the right flow.We will get back to the padded top later.
This was how the car arrived in Denmark after David had finished the top and the car was put in a container and Bendix transport made sure it got save to Palle’s home in Denmark.
This is the first version of the car and Palle will be enjoying it like this for some time. The rear of the car and the windshield frame (which were still in primer after the body work) have now been painted the same as the rest of the body. Palle installed a set of S-112 Appleton spotlights. The rear was dropped a bit, new white wall tires (still need to be cleaned) installed, and most important the car passed inspection and the new Danish license plates came in. So now the fun of driving can start. The license plates will soon be replaced with some old white on black Danish plates which will look much better with the car.
The car looks like it could have been built back in 1948… Very elegant, Very gorgeous!
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
and this is how it looked before i started!
it takes a man to restore a car..but it takes a real man to cut one up up!!
Hey Rik…i love this new place! i will add a couple of photos just to see how it all works!
That is one of my favorite photos from the shoot Palle. The car looks a mile long there. Just fantastic.
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
thats funny…when i posted it, I was about to say, that this angle doesnt get better! i wanna shoot some pics when the sun comes back. maybe look out for a better location
This is exactly the kind of custom car that I was hoping to find here.
What an amazing early style custom.Do you plan to remove the hood and trunk ornament, like most of the cars did back in the 1940’s.
And what about the License plates? Will you be setting the one in the back behind glass into the trunk?
This is exactly the kind of custom car that I was hoping to find here.
What an amazing early style custom.Do you plan to remove the hood and trunk ornament, like most of the cars did back in the 1940′s.
Custom Guy,
Thank you for joining.
We do plan to show you many more cars and project like the wonderful Cadillac from Palle.
We are at the beginning of what we here at the Custom Car Chronicle thing a revival of this early 1940’s style custom.Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
Palle, your Caddy would look right at home on an early Motor Trend cover.
A lesson in elegance and a perfect example of why 40s custom styling is timeless, Perfection!thanks guys…i am really happy how it looks so far! i still have plans, but for now, i will only work on the vent windows. more about those later. not an easy task!
about the plans for body mods..i will have a recess for the license plate..also behind glass! the thing is, that ordered some 40’s black plates, and wanna be sure about the size. i ordered # M1947…dont know if the wanna let me decide the number myself! the M..is for the area i live in!
about the hood ornament..It will be removed this winter too.
i am working on some homemade taillights in the guards..more later. i have some problems with the color dye i use..but with the help of Matt Townsend..i found the right dye. just waiting for it to arrive.
i have some cool 48 caddy parts..especially the art deco dash will look perfect in this 47!
and in the end..new color! havent decided that yet! leaning agains a very dark brown..but i might change plans!Jimmy..thanks man…looking forward to see progress on your avatar!!
and Ester and Rik..and others working on this page..you have all done a fantastic work! this will be a succes for sure!
thanks!
palle@Steve, there was a 1/16 die cast stock Cad convertible available. I had purchased one, lowered it, and cut down the convertible top to look like a carson top. It didn’t come out design wise as nice as Palle’s real car. but that is one approach if you want to build a desk top replica.
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